National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists Told

More than 600 Chicago-area and Northwest Indiana high school students are among the 15,000 seniors across the United States who are semifinalists for the 1988 National Merit Scholarships.

The academically talented high school seniors scored in the top one-half of 1 percent in their states on a qualifying test taken last fall by more than 1 million students in 19,000 American secondary schools. They are competing for 6,000 Merit Scholarships worth more than $23 million.

To become Merit Scholarship finalists, the semifinalists must submit documents to verify their academic performance; be endorsed by their schools; take a further test to confirm their qualifying test performance; and submit information about their schools, community activities, personal interests and goals.